On behalf of our sponsors and partners, we would like to thank everyone who participated in the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Music Conference. We are especially excited about the new relationships we have forge with great bands, great venues and a ton of really great people! Look to video and pictures to start hitting the web this week.

Thank you to the Midtown Sundries for hosting 3 outstanding showcases featuring performances 15 of the best bands from across the country including Sound Cannon, Labeling Deloris, Emery Drive, Claire Guerreso, Justin Taylor, Pauline Pisano, Steel Standing and way too many others for me to list here. Gene Hatcher, YOU ARE THE MAN. The Sundries are some great venues to play with great food and even better people. Check them out online at www.midtownsundries.com  

To our presenting sponsor Sam Ash Music Store, thank you for everything, especially for hosting the Carolina Battle of the Bands. Local favorite and rising 16 year old star, Desmond Myers, www.myspace.com/desmondmyers took home top honors as the first winner of this annual showcase who’s prizes included multiple in-store performances and over $2,000 in prizes.  Also hosted at Sam Ash Music Store was the 2nd Annual BeatStreet Beat Battle where Memphis Producer/Artist Young Don, www.myspace.com/dayoungdon successfully defended his title against some of the best new beat makers on the east coast. Everyone in attendance agreed that this was absolutely one of the best displays of creative and talented beat production they had seen in a while. Look for in-store music production workshops from Young Don coming to a Sam Ash Music near you.

Finally we would like to thank Robin Bryant, Tamara Osborne, Barry Newman, Joe Novak and the entire staff of ImaginOn, The Joe and Joan Martin Center for hosting our event. You are an AWSOME team of people and you have an amazing facility! We can not wait to begin planning for next year with you. We hope that the young people you serve learned a few things about the music industry. Your dedication to them shines through to everyone who comes into your facility and we are truly honored to work with you on providing them with real world, hands on learning opportunities. I can not leave out the team at With These Hands DJ Academy who’s showcase packed the Wachovia Theater. Claude and Louis, you really deserve to be recognized for your work and dedication to our young people.          
We had wonderful panels and I am more than confident that all those who attended gained invaluable insight into this crazy business of music. Though our attendance was very low this year at ImaginON, a venue change in the middle of the year and this up and down economy I am sure were major factors, YET, we still saw performance by more than 20 amazing artist crossing all genres of music during our “Best of the Best” and “Urban Explosion” showcases. Performances by Tye Bands, JAS, Daniel Street, Tropic Culture, and The Virus Twiins, showed the wide variety of music out there for listeners today. Best of the Best winners Physha P of New York, put on a memorial performance as did headliners Numa from DC, www.numaband.com and Atlanta’s own rising stars Jay and Dre City, www.myspace.com/drecity22, performed their hit smash single “Polo”.        

All in All, a great weekend. Great panelists, great new partners including Performer and SIR Magazines, Noisy Planet, Copyright Alliance and Talk of NC/SC all worked very hard to present this opportunity to the mid-atlantic music scene. Please feel free to provide us with your feedback on your experiences both good and bad. Your feedback will only help us improve upon our goal and providing performance, networking and marketing opportunities to performers, sponsors and all others who are looking to grow their presence in the mid-atlantic market. Look for detail on MMC 2009 and other MMC related events coming soon to a city near you.      

James, Kysii, Glen – MMC Staff